Gardner Village

Last October Olivia was only seven months old and not really old enough to start discovering all the Halloween fun. I love that she is so into this year. My Halloween decorations move on an hourly basis and she loves to have her costume on. We are also working on saying trick or treat. Last year I took her to day farms and did get quite a few cute pumpkin pics. Well I had really high hopes of doing another cutesy fall photo shoot so my friend and I headed to Gardner Village. Well, turns out the nice thing about having a seven month old is that they are pretty much immobile. This years photos didn't turn out so good because now my 19 month old was running away or distracted by something else while I tried to take the pics. Oh well, better luck next year.

One of last year's photos. Much easier to take photos then, but not nearly as fun!

I definitely need to go back without kiddos to shop, but we did manage to hit the petting zoo & the pony rides while we were there. The petting zoo was a huge hit even though we smelled like a farm afterwards. Olivia loves animals and usually the animals need to be protected from Olivia and not the other way around. She loved being able to walk around and check out all the animals.

I'm sad I kinda chopped the top of her head off in this photo, I thought it was pretty cute.


The chicken in the car was cracking me up

Circus Parade

Last Thursday Livi and I took frontrunner down to the Gateway for the Circus Parade. It was really short, but a lot of fun. They had a few floats with the performers, some clowns, and of course the elephants! Olivia cried when it was over because she wanted to see more. Next year we will have to get tickets and take her to the actual circus.

The train ride home was a little crazy with tired cranky kids.

Here are some cute pics we've taken recently:

Livi "texting"

She love to wear my sunglasses. I think she looks better in them than I do.

Cooking with mom. She loves to help.

Carousel at Peach Days in Brigham City

Aquarium

About a week ago Livi and I along with a couple of friends decided to head to Sandy to check out the aquarium. I didn't really know whether or not she would be into it, but I thought we'd give it a try and she loved it. They have really neat tanks filled with all kinds of amazing fish. They also have an open pond thing where you can pet the stingrays - I did it, but was kind of a chicken about it, they were a little slimey. They had other exhibits with turtles, spiders, frogs, and all sorts of creatures. It was kinda hard to get good pictures in the aquarium with the dim light and the kids wanting to run around like crazies.

Olivia, Eli & Carter. I can't remember what was in this tank, but its the only time the three of them stood in the same spot long enough for me to get a picture.

Very cool tank with sharks in it. Olivia loved this one.

Eli & Livi checking out the cool yellow fish that looked like a piece of coral.

Dance Party

Lately Dallas & Olivia have been having dance parties. Dallas will plug his ipod into the stereo and blast the music and the two of them will have a dance party. She loves it! Now she will grab his hand and walk him over to the stereo, put his and on it and say dance. She is too cute! It is so much fun to watch her dance. Here's a short clip of video from the dance party before bed the other night. Please ignore my shrill voice narrating. Does anyone else hate the sound of their own voice on recordings?

Westwood California

In the middle of July we traveled to Northern California to visit my Grandpa Cowan's hometown of Westwood and visit with all of the California Relatives. The Westwood/Lake Almanor area of California is such a small town, but incredibly beautiful with a lot of fun adventures to be had.

This is my favorite picture. Grandma and Livi enjoying an afternoon snack of popcorn.


Grandma and Uncle Charles enjoying the amazing view from the deck of the cabin.

We rented a house right on the shore of Lake Almanor and Olivia had a blast playing in the dirt and throwing rocks in the water. Olivia is so busy and letting her play on the beach required my full attention so I didn't get around to taking very many pictures. We can't wait to go back!!

I thought her expression here was so funny.

Dallas and Ryan trying to figure out how to windsurf.

Mom & Karson taking the kayak out for a spin.

Dallas & my dad attempting to windsurf. I think you might need wind in order to windsurf, but what do I know.

Girls Camp

In June I attended Girls Camp with my YW. Those of you who know me know that I am not a camper so the thought of going to camp where there are no flushing toilets and no showers did not have me jumping for joy. I love my YW and we had such a blast. The mosquitoes were insane and it rained every day we were up there, but I think our girls had a great time and were able to feel the spirit. Due to the rainy weather I didn't have my camera out often, but here are the few pictures I did take.


We loved having Brother Later at camp. He is a perpetual Scouter and felt a little uncomfortable surrounded by girls, but we won him over and ended up giving him a pedicure before camp was over. I think I will be in big trouble if word gets out that I posted these pics on my blog.

Hello Again

Wow, has it really been two months since I've updated my blog? I don't really know what's kept me from keeping this up to date, but hopefully I can get back on track. We've been having a fun summer playing in the kiddie pool and also hitting the local pools. I went to girls camp, we celebrated the fourth, and we went to California so I'll try to post about all of those things soon and get all caught up. I hope all you are having a great summer too!

Help

I am so tired of fighting a loosing battle every night so I am turning to you fellow bloggers for help. Every night around 8:30 most passerbys can hear this battle ragging on inside our home. Some of you might have worried about the safety for those of us inside because to hear the screaming coming from our house you would immediately jump to conclusions and assume we were being tortured by some evil villan. But truth be told, the screaming usually only generates from one small person and the battle can be summed up in one simple word. Toothbrush!

Olivia absolutely hates having her teeth brushed and I am so sick of fighting her every night. I have tried everything I can think of to get her to cooperate. I have tried a couple of different toothbrushes, I have tried getting my toothbrush and letting her brush my teeth while I brush hers, I've tried letting her take a turn and then trying to take my turn, I've tried letting her hold the toothbrush while I move it over her teeth. This girl is stubborn and all attemps generally conclude with me trying to hold her hands and pin her head and barely managing to brush her teeth while she screams her head off and thrashes around.

I surely can't be the only one who has a child with an absolute hatred of teeth brushing. We don't really battle on anything else, but where this is a matter of health and hygiene I can't let her win. Any suggestions? I'm getting desperate.


Also, Olivia is now 16 months old, but I wanted to take a moment and post the measurements from her 15 month check up.

Weight - 23.6 lbs (56th percentile)

Length - 32 inches (88th percentile)

Now Hiring

Olivia Hamblin's Stroller Wash is looking for a few new employees!

Qualifications:

Must be under the age of 8

Enjoy working outdoors

Must wear sunscreen & love to play in the water

Naptime afterwards is a requirement

Experience with stroller detailing a must!

Hours: Probably every day during the summer

Pay: Popsicles or Goldfish Crackers

Uniform: Swimsuit or less : )

Anyone interested in applying should apply in person at Olivia's House.

In case you were wondering, Olivia has and umbilical hernia so that's why her bellybutton looks so crazy.